The Ultimate Defense
by Crypto-Mae
Summary: [NejiTen] As Tenten sits by Neji's inert form in the hospital, reawakening their past and the associated flood of emotions that come with it.


Chapter 1: Then and Now  
  
It had been back in her academy days, the first time she had seen the boy with the scary eyes.  
  
She had heard of this Hyuuga Neji well before ever actually seeing him, his reputation for being cold and aloof early established. On the whole her classmates found him intimidating and were all too pleased to leave him alone. Her girlfriends were absolutely petrified of him, though they allowed that he might have been cute if he hadn't been so creepy and mean. Tenten had ridiculed the very notion that the sullen, arrogant Neji could ever be considered 'cute'. She, too, had a reputation to live up to. But truth be told, she found him intriguing. And though she would rather die than have admitted it, she found him strangely attractive.  
  
Whatever her secret feelings, Tenten refused to let herself be so easily intimidated. Her disposition did not allow it.  
  
So she had made a deliberate point of looking him straight in the eye on those rare occasions when they spoke, smirking slightly whenever he said something disparaging to her face, pointedly ignoring him whenever he said it behind her back. On his part, Neji was unaccustomed to being treated with anything other than deference or fear. To be on the receiving end of such insolence and from a little girl with deceptively gentle brown eyes and an aggravatingly cute hairdo - it was infuriating, though he of course remained outwardly stoic and unaffected.  
  
It had been back in his academy days, the first time he had taken note of the girl without fear.   
  
Over time their relationship became cordial, which was more than anyone else could claim. Neji rarely spoke to anyone, but when he did it was always to her. In Tenten, he had discovered something to keep him amused, something to occupy himself with in class. Neji decided that it would be interesting to found a flaw in that confident shell of hers.  
  
He watched her, but he could see none. So he continued to watch.  
  
One day, shortly before their graduation, Neji had overheard a conversation between Tenten and another girl from their class.  
  
"He's got raven hair, and striking black eyes. He may be a year younger, but he's soooo cute!" gushed the girl as Tenten listened, a bemused expression on her face.  
  
Neji rolled his eyes and was preparing to remove himself to a location where he would be spared from the idiocy of his classmates when he caught Tenten's cool reply.   
  
"I think he's gay," she said dryly. "When they're that cute, they usually are."  
  
As he walked away, Neji couldn't help but smile. How interesting.   
  
  
  
When team assignments rolled around and they were put on the same team, neither party had an objection. Neji even deigned to approach Tenten and speak to her after the annoucement. Already surprised, her friends gaped in awe at the ease and familiarity with which Tenten spoke to Neji. Though he was indisputably the strongest of their class and a genius in his own right, no one envied her the assignment. When questioned, she held to the idea that being teammates with someone so skilled would be the perfect opportunity for her to improve herself. She resolutely ignored the prodding from her subconscious to be happy for a different reason.  
  
At the beginning, Tenten was always acutely aware that Neji was watching her. He would no doubt revert into his previous sullen state if she ever said so, but whatever he thought, Neji was predictable. Whenever the team was together, he coldly ignored Lee, resolutely paid Gai no heed, and calmly observed her. She knew that it wasn't because he had feelings for her, as much as she might have liked it to be so. She wasn't stupid. She'd covertly asked about his past, and thus knew that Neji wasn't capable of having those emotions, not just yet. Not while his heart was still broken and his mind still filled with bitterness. But yet, there he was, watching. And, as Tenten correctly suspected, judging.   
  
  
  
Neji was not usually one to hesitate in forming an opinion. Decidedly enough, she was unlike the others. There was no boy she fawned over, no boy she giggled at, no boy she flirted with. And, unlike everyone else, she was not afraid of him. Unlike the others, Neji eventually decided, she was tolerable.   
  
That was why, after watching her practice and forming a better picture of her character, he had asked her to help him with extra training. That was why, after Lee threw a hissy fit and went off to train with Gai on his own, he had asked her to train with him permanently. He hadn't noticed the expression on her face when he had made his request and she accepted. For all the insight the Byakugan gave him, he hadn't noticed the worried looks she gave him whenever he was in one of his moods, nor the slight blush on her face whenever they touched accidently, nor the small but genuine smile that crossed her lips when they spoke. He had never even stopped to consider the possibility that Tenten might have feelings for him. Because that was what distinguished her from the others. She wouldn't waste her time on such frivolous affairs.  
  
He told her as much one night, as he walked her home after training. They had gotten fairly close, though not enough for Neji to completely trust her (but then, he didn't trust anyone). This was as close as Neji had been to anyone in a long, long time. Tenten could tell that he was unaccustomed to opening up, so she took whatever she got as a compliment to the strength of their friendship. Neji might flinch at the word, and just for that reason she used it as much as possible - but they were friends.  
  
It was a beautiful night, and had the two been any other boy and girl in Konoha it might have been considered romantic. As it was Neji and Tenten, the night never stood a chance.  
  
"That's why I don't mind being around you, Tenten," said Neji all of a sudden, shattering the serenity of the evening.  
  
Tenten turned her head and stared at him for moment before responding sharply, "What?"  
  
"You're different than the others. All the other girls are so preoccupied with their love interests that they neglect their training. I like being around you because you'd never let yourself be overcome by such insipid emotions," came Neji's nonchalant explanation.  
  
"Aaa. Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment," said Tenten dryly.   
  
Neji's attempt at a smile came out looking more like a grimace. As usual, he left her at the front gate and turned around to leave.  
  
"Good night, Neji," called Tenten after him. He held up a single hand in farewell, and was soon out of sight.  
  
She walked up to the front steps and sat down, staring out at the night sky. So that's why he thought highly of her. If he ever found out...if she ever told him...  
  
"Shit," she said aloud, violently hurling a kunai into an unfortunate nearby tree.  
  
Thus, out of respect for their friendship, she had let the issue stand. You can't control who you like, reasoned Tenten, but you can control what you do about it.   
  
Maybe she'd get over him.   
  
Maybe...  
  
Dammit.  
  
*************************************  
  
All that seemed so far away, a time of such peace and tranquility when compared to the oppressive atmosphere that rested upon Konoha now.  
  
Tenten stared at Neji's inert form lying on the hospital bed before her. The machine on the cart next to him reassured her that he was still alive, reassurance that was quite welcome as she would have had trouble discerning that on her own. The doctors had already warned her about Neji's condition, but still she hadn't been prepared for the pitiful sight she beheld. His complexion was naturally pale, but it had now been still further reduced into an almost translucent, ghastly shade of gray. The drastic contrast between the color of his face and the surrounding dark locks of loose, tangled hair sent a painful pang of emotion through her. Tenten's chest physically ached from the surge of fear that coursed through her veins and ran through her heart. Her eyes moved slowly across his heavily bandaged body, taking in the full extent of the visible damage her teammate had sustained. Blood was just beginning to seep through the bandages covering the gaping holes in his left shoulder and body. The slight discoloration of the dressing gave her a queasy feeling in her stomach. But she could not move away, nor could she tear her gaze off of the damaged figure before her.   
  
She had always thought that Neji would always be there. Even if she couldn't have him, he'd always be around her and that'd be enough.  
  
She had always thought of Neji as untouchable. Invincible. ...Immortal.  
  
The barely audible sound of his hollow breathing and the beeps of the heartrate monitor proved otherwise.  
  
An involuntary tear rolled down her cheek.  
  
You son of a bitch. You'd better wake up.  
  
...  
  
I love you. 


End file.
